The Zagreb train disaster occurred on 30 August 1974 when an express train (number 10410)[1] traveling from Belgrade, Yugoslavia, to Dortmund, West Germany, derailed before entering Zagreb Main Station (present-day Croatia), killing 153 people.

[6] Many of the passengers died immediately; as many as 41 who could not be identified were buried in a common grave at the Mirogoj Cemetery.

[7] The passengers were mainly gastarbeiters (guest workers) working in West Germany and their families, which included many children.

The driver, Nikola Knežević, and his assistant, Stjepan Varga, were both exhausted, having worked for two full days.

The court upheld their sentence due to the duo working the previous 52 hrs as a mitigating circumstance in the accident.